Four People Charged With Forging Checks In Bucks To Face Court

Four people accused of check forgery were bound over for Bucks County Court action after a preliminary hearing in Quakertown last week.

Maritza Blount, 34, of 837 Liberty St., first floor, Allentown; Lilly Gonzales, 23, of 312 E. Cambria St., Philadelphia; and David Timothy Moore, 23, also of the Philadelphia address, remain free on bail while awaiting trial dates, according to a court clerk.

Richard Lee Walters, also known as Randolph Simmons, no address, was recently released from Lehigh County Prison on his own recognizance, a prison official said yesterday. He had been transferred from Bucks County Prison to stand trial in Lehigh, the court clerk said.

The four are each charged with theft by deception, criminal attempt, two counts of forgery, two counts of theft by unlawful taking, three counts of receiving stolen property, and three counts of criminal conspiracy.

Additional charges against Walters of forgery, theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy also were bound over for court by Senior District Justice Walter F. Auch Jr.

According to Quakertown police, the alleged check-forging ring cashed an $850 business check drawn on the account of Bruce Nicholl Motors in Hilltown Feb. 21 at Bucks County Bank, 3rd and Broad streets.

The foursome took $600 and deposited $250 into the account of Douglas R. Amey, to whom the check was made payable, police said.

Roughly 40 minutes later they attempted to cash a second forged check at the same bank, police said. The second check also was for $850, was made out to Amey and was drawn on the Nicholl account.

Bank officials refused to cash the second check, police said.

In an incident that occurred just hours earlier Feb. 21, state police at Dublin said the foursome stole an $18 check payable to Dwayne O. Siever from his residence at 618 California Road, Richland Township, but did not cash it.

Walters is also accused of cashing another stolen business check for $850 drawn on the Nicholl account; police said he deposited $650 into Siever's account and took $200 Feb. 21.

Three of the defendants were able to post bail after Bucks County Judge R. Barry McAndrews reduced bail for all four, an employee of the clerk of courts said.

McAndrews reduced bail to $2,500 for Blount and to $5,000 for Gonzales and Moore, all 10 percent down.

The judge set a recognizance bail for Walters so he could be transferred to Lehigh County, the clerk said.